The conventional route of therapy involving protein or peptide drugs is via parenteral administration (i.e., by injection). This is primarily due to the lack of absorption of such drugs through the gastrointestinal tract. However, injections are painful and sometimes difficult to administer relative to other dosage forms. Patient compliance is an important consideration as well since some of these drugs may require frequent administration to juvenile or geriactric patients. Oral delivery is preferable to injections for patient acceptance since it is less painful and more convenient for the patient. However, delivery of therapeutic polypeptides through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract has a number of problems such as low pH in the stomach, proteolytic degradation of the drug in the small intestine, low absorption through the intestinal membrane, and limited stability of such formulations, especially as an aqueous solution, which are all potential barriers to absorption of polypeptides following oral administration.
Recent efforts to deliver polypeptides orally have focused on the use of absorption enhancers. This has led to the discovery that a suspension of sodium salicylate in an excess of an oil can enhance the absorption of human growth hormone from the GI tract (EP publication 177,342; Moore et al., Internat. J. Pharma. 34:35 (1986)). While absorption is improved by this combination, the bioavailability is of only up to about 10-20% of the protein (with reference to intravenous), which is still quite low. As a result, larger amounts of proteins must be administered orally in order to provide the required therapeutic level of protein in the plasma. This is a particular problem with proteins and polypeptides which, even with the advent of biotechnology, are still of relatively limited availability and are complex chemical entities as well, and are very expensive as a result. Additionally, the liquid or semi-solid compositions of the prior art are difficult to formulate or package into a dosage form for oral delivery.
While the above prior art formulations have been found to somewhat improve the absorption of proteins and polypeptides in the colon, they also, as discussed above, have limitations and disadvantages. These limitations and disadvantages are addressed by the present invention.